Reading the forums the past few days has revealed a somewhat recurring theme in the discussions, that of a localized economy; be it through localised resources or going all the way to some form of regionalised banking.

Today we would like to present to you the contents of our Localised Economy package, some of which has been hinted in our recent “Path Ahead” post. For us, as well as the community from what we see, a functional economy is the stepping stone for a proper sandbox, so our attention is focused on it from the beginning of October and for the next development cycles. So, fully embracing and wanting to extend upon the current community mantra of “More Sand in the box” here is what we have in mind.

The Localised Economy Package

GoalThe goal of this bundle of features and improvements is to promote a localised economy system with areas of varying value, thus affecting the value of holdings, promoting trade of goods and increasing regional activity and conflict. In turn this will promote meaningful conflict driven by economic and area control motives.

Areas of Focus

1. New materials, recipes and products

• New raw Materials - The current number of materials does not allow for proper localisation. New materials will be heavily localised and added to specific loot tables of monsters or nodes that are located at specific, confined areas around the world. These will range from various obscure materials as well as gems.

• Enchanting, Gems and socketing - Currently our designs revolve around a system that allows players to enchant gems which can then be added to existing equipment to create new products of higher value. The actual nature of enchants has been discussed a lot as the system needs to result in desirable new items and options for the players but also take into consideration relevant balancing issues.

2. GUI and functionality

• New Inventory system - A whole new backpack and bank management that allows for a very streamlined experience. This includes features that allow for searching, sorting, grouping, multiple windows and other amenities. Multiple views are supported such as tiled icons and detailed list but we are also considering a free placement view that will be the default and only view presented when looting a monster or player.

• Clan vault ledger - A complete history of deposits and withdrawals by all clan members, complete with search by name, resource and date options.

• Tiered clan vaults - Two new tiers for clan vaults with their own separate set of permissions so that clan leaders can assign them accordingly.

3. Travel and Transportation

• Instant traveling reduction - This being a topic of extensive discussions in the office, what we would like to do is reduce instant travel options, specifically severely limit summon friend. At the same time however we are favourably looking at a more extensive system of runes that utilises rune books. Hand in hand with this system go options for blocking and unmarking runes as well, opening up opportunities to add new materials and skills. One concern is that we do not want these options to be available to everyone but be part of some sort of specialisation that requires very specific choices to be made by the player. Additionally, transportation of goods through instant traveling is something we would like to limit as well.

• On land traveling buff - While instant traveling is to be limited, fast real time traveling could use a boost as a compensation and also due to the fact that it makes for a more alive world. For starters then, traveling speed on roads is to be increased for all forms of moving about, be it on foot or on a mount.

• Transportation of goods options - To facilitate easier transportation of goods, especially in massive quantities, we have plans for some sort of a beast of burden type of mount, for example a donkey, as well as a carriage type of contraption. Additionally, ship strongboxes are to be added to the ships.

4. Localisation of markets and storage

• Local Markets - Another change relevant to the localisation of the economy is the replacement of features that allow for instant trading all around the world with player driven ones. Specifically we want to remove the instant automatic courier system for the markets and instead introduce a player driven Transport Contract system that allows for players to buy items remotely and have them delivered to them by another player.

• Local / Regional Banks - Understandably, this is a controversial topic. We feel that in order for most of the above to really flourish and result in emergent gameplay situations, there needs to be some form of regionalisation of storage. As this is the absolute last feature of the package in terms of implementation prioritization, its necessity is to be re-evaluated each step of the way. Possible implementations could range from a fully local banking system to a regionalised one or one where items can still be accessed from anywhere, but items in remote banks impose a fee or/and time requirement to be transferred over.

5. Relics

Maybe not entirely relevant to a localised economy but since it enhances holding value, raiding and exploration elements, it is something that we want to do within the confines of this package. The relic system, which is actually in development right now, will have clans exploring the world for relics that grant the clan that manages to bring them back to their holding with specific buffs. Relics can be stolen however so defending them is essential.

So there you have it, this is our planned focus for the next few months with a tentative ETA for the whole package being December 2014/January 2015. Of course, all these features are to be discussed with the newly elected Conclave so that there is an open and productive discussion around them. At any rate, implementation will be iterative so features will be coming your way in frequent patches until the package is complete. The way we see it, laying down a solid foundation for the economy will allow us to then move on to other packages such as the PvE/AI one, the Factions and Alignment one or the Custom Building one.

More details about the features listed above will be provided as the designs are locked down including community feedback and are then forwarded for implementation.